In recent years, so-called “hybrid vehicles” have become increasingly popular. These vehicles typically use one or more motors to assist the brakes while decelerating and assist the internal combustion engine while accelerating thereby dramatically reducing fuel consumption without significant effects upon the driving experience. The motors are used to convert between electrical and mechanical energy. When the electrical energy is generated by a motor it is stored with a rechargeable energy storage system (RESS) or the like that includes a battery pack. In addition to currently-available hybrid vehicles, a number of vehicles are designed such that they can be re-charged from the electrical grid or another source.
During operation of a RESS or other battery-powered system, it is generally desirable to monitor the current and voltage provided by the battery. Presently, current and voltage measurements are obtained using two separate channels of a microprocessor; a first channel for measuring voltage, and a second for measuring current. While this arrangement is generally able to provide accurate measurements under most conditions, it is not typically a redundant arrangement, and therefore it lacks the security commonly found in many components. If an irregularity should occur in an analog-to-digital converter, reference voltage or other non-redundant component found in conventional systems, this irregularity would be relatively difficult to identify.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide improved systems and techniques for measuring currents, voltages and/or other electrical characteristics that provide accurate measurements, and that are able to recognize issues that may arise within the measurement environment. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.